The Panda Bear
by ForlornSpirit
Summary: "I seemed to remember... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile. It was a silly stuffed toy, but Percy had carried it a long way. He was kind of fond of it." What if there was more of a story behind the stuffed toy Percy picked up than we realised? One-shot. Slight angst.


**_[Sorry for the sight formatting error earlier]._**

 _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._

 _I seemed to remember... something about my father. A warm glow. A smile._

 _. . ._

 _It was a silly stuffed toy, but Percy had carried it a long way._  
 _He was kind of fond of it._

. . .

A small child laid in a plastic cot. The sounds of trolleys being pushed and voices of nurses echoed off of the pristine white walls of a hospital. The only sign that the baby was still alive was the slow rising and falling of his chest. The sounds of a trolley stopped outside the door and light flooded in through a crack as the door slid inwards, a midwife poked her head in to check on the baby. It didn't stir but kept on breathing. She nodded in satisfaction and left. The baby slumbered on.

Down at the reception of the hospital, the electronic doors slid open. A tired receptionist looked up to see why the doors had opened but nobody was there. The receptionist blinked as the smell of the sea assaulted his nose. Looking down at the energy drink rested on his desk, he blinked and through it in the bin. _I'm nowhere near the sea,_ he told himself.

The breeze seemingly had a mind of its own. Despite the fact that it was, well, a breeze it left a warm feeling inside the people that it passed. Like a hug from someone who meant the world to you or that warm breeze coming in from the sea on a hot summers day.

Winding up through the corridors and leaving nothing but a salty smell in its wake. The breeze came to a stop outside a room an entered. Now don't go thinking that the breeze blow the door opened and slammed it into the wall -no. That was too loud, too dramatic for its liking. Nobody could know that he came. No one. So, instead of opening the door, it went under it.

If anyone saw what happened next they -to this day- would not be able to explain how what happened, happened. The breeze seemed to swirl and condense until nothing but a puddle was left on the floor. Yet this was not the strange part, no, from the puddle emerged a middle aged man in midstride. The puddle rushed up to form his features until the puddle no longer remained.

The man was tall, he had a Hawaiian tan and dark black hair stuck up in different directions on his head. But what really stuck out about the man's appearance (well, if you were to ignore the trident that was clutched in the man's right hand) were his eyes. The man's sea green eyes shone in the darkness, swirling with emotions and hidden power.

He marched forward, not once hindered by the fact that he had just emerged from a puddle. The man came to a stop once he had reached the side of a crib, looking down at the baby he could see that it had a small tuft of black hair sitting on the top of its mostly bald head. A smile crept onto the man's face.

Still smiling the man reached inside his large puffer jacket and pulled out a small panda pillow pet. Fumbling with it slightly, he placed it down next to the small baby, careful not to touch its pink-ish smooth skin with his tanned corroded skin. Not want to taint something so pure, so innocent with his presence. And yet his efforts were in vain, the baby's eyes flickered open. Wide, curious sea-green eyes met the man's own solemn sea-green eyes. The man's smile widened, he was positively glowing in happiness.

The man and child only stared at each other, not cooing or wailing. Eye contact was only broken when the man heard rapidly approaching footsteps. Casting an annoyed look at the door the man looked down at the small child that had yet to look away from him. Once again smiling at the child the man whispered,

' _Be brave, Perseus.'_

And then he was gone. Blown away in a non-existent breeze. Leaving nothing but a small glow in the child's memory.

And for the first time since the child, Perseus, was born he wailed. Longing for the man's comforting presence.

. . .

As a child Percy didn't have many friends. Nobody liked the ADHD and dyslexic boy, parents would steer their children away from him like he was a disease.

' _Stay away from him,'_ they would say, _'he's just a no good trouble maker.'_

Percy didn't mean to get into trouble, he actually enjoyed school -until the bullying started. You see, Percy was smaller than all the other boys his age; a prime target. He was pushed around, hit, kicked and taunted. This was when Percy decided he hated school.

Clutching the straps of his backpack, he ignored the questions that his mother asked,

 _Are you okay?_  
 _Percy what's going on?_  
 _Are you okay?_  
 _You know you can tell me anything right?_  
 ** _Are you okay?_**

He'd been asked it all before, he just stopped listening long ago. Percy shuffled from foot to foot. Impatiently waiting for his mother to open the door.

As soon as the door swung open, Percy charged into his home, shedding his shoes, coat and bag on the way to his room. Jumping onto his bed, Percy's arms encircled a panda teddy. Curling himself into a ball, Percy refused to let tears spill from his eyes. He _hated_ bullying but he still had his best friend. He still had his panda.

 _. . ._

Percy stood in the main room of his mother's apartment, clutching his panda bear. His mother -Sally Jackson- smiled down at him, putting in her dangly earrings. Still smiling she spoke,

"You're going to be a good boy aren't you Percy?" At his nod she continued. "Don't judge Gabe on his appearance, okay? He's a nice guy."

At the very moment Sally had finished her speech a knock sounded at the door. Ruffling Percy's hair, Sally set off towards the door.

Re - entering the room Sally was followed by a man around her age. He was mildly overweight but not enough to look like a walrus, he had thinning black hair on his head and a kind smile. But what really hit Percy was the stench of the man standing in front of him. _Don't judge him by his appearance._ Remembering his mother's words Percy stuck out his free hand (holding his panda in the other) he introduced himself.

The man took his hand and smiled kindly, "Hello Percy I'm Gabriel, but I prefer Gabe. I like your panda."

Smiling shyly, Percy realized that he liked Gabe.

. . .

Adjusting his panda's bow tie and fiddling with his own, Percy was unable to stay still. This was the first wedding he'd ever been to and it was his own mother's as well. Double checking that his panda still had the rings tied tightly around its neck, he marched confidently down the aisle to _here comes the bride,_ knowing that his mother was following him in her long white gown.

The wedding itself was awfully boring, the monotone voice of the priest grated at Percy's ears and his ADHD seemed desperate to prove itself superior. But if it meant that his mother got the perfect wedding he knew that she wanted, Percy was determined to fight his ADHD, refusing to squirm, he played with the ears of his panda to distract himself.

His panda was a gods - send.

And Percy discovered that he didn't like weddings all that much but he loved seeing his mother happy and (if he was being honest) the party was what really made his day. But if it meant seeing his mother happy, Percy would gladly sit through another ceremony.

. . .

To begin with, Gabe would never dream of laying a hand on Percy. He loved the boy like he was his own son and Sally was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes on. He loved her dearly.

But then he lost his job.

Their income deteriorated, Sally had to work extra shifts, and Gabe couldn't get another job so he turned to gambling. Poker, he discovered, was a game he was remarkably good at.

Until he wasn't.

Gabe soon become desperate but he was losing more games than he was winning. The little money they had was evaporating but he found himself unable to stop playing, stop betting, _stop gambling._ Eventually, he found a job but whatever money he earned was lost again when he gambled.

Even before he was put under stress, Gabe smoked cigarettes but the stress and lack of money increased his need for nicotine. He'd always managed to satisfy this addiction, satisfy the monster that was beneath his skin and made him crave nicotine until the point he _couldn't_ satisfy it.

That's when the drinking begun.

The alcohol satisfied his needs, it took Gabe's mind off of the need to gamble, to smoke, heck, it took away the need to _think._

To begin with Gabe wasn't a violent drunk but soon Sally spent less and less time at home and Gabe was drinking more and more until he snapped.

Percy was unlucky enough to be caught up in this moment of drunken rage. Unlucky enough to have a man's misdirected fury aimed at _him_. Because honestly, deep down Gabe knew that he loved Percy but Gabe no longer wished to feel emotions. The nicotine and alcohol took away the need for emotions but replaced it with the need to vent.

It was because of this... odd attachment to Percy that had long since been buried under layers of addictions that Gabe never scarred Percy. After all, bruises and bones always heal.

And on nights like these, nights when Gabe was feeling particularly aggressive, Percy would curl up with his panda and cry himself to sleep. Percy no longer liked Gabe.

Percy hated Gabe's danger nights even more.

And they were becoming more frequent.

. . .

Even after je found out he was a demigod, Percy relied on his panda more than other people. People will come and go but his panda would always be there

You see, the one thing Percy craved was the ability to _talk_ without other people putting the two pence worth in.

 _You shouldn't do that!_  
 _Don't be an idiot._  
 _And I care because...?_  
 _Don't be an idiot._  
 _Shush, can't you see I'm busy?_  
 _DON'T BE AN IDIOT._  
 _Not now Percy, tell me later._  
 ** _DON'T BE AN IDIOT!_**

His panda would never tell him to shut up or go away. If he was feeling down, Percy would just lie down and vent to his panda and lets the words tumble from his lips. Words cascading out like how a waterfall tumbles from the face of a cliff into the depths below.

Unlike people, his panda wouldn't judge him, Percy'd tell it anything and everything.

' _Apparently my dad's a god.'_  
 _'Mum turned Gabe to stone, he can't hurt us now. '_  
 _'I have a half-brother, he's a cyclops y'know '_  
 _'I broke a promise, I'm an awful person.'_  
 _'She died!'_  
 _'I blew up a volcano...'_  
 _'I can't believe I left her their alone!'_  
 _'He killed himself!'_  
 _'I'm expected to beat a titan?!'_  
 _'OhgodsOhgodsOhgods.'_  
 _'We won.'_

And then silence, Percy could no longer make these comments as he was forcibly taken from his home. He slept for months, memories slowly being denied access to.

Until all he had was his and another's name.

His subconscious lead him to buy another panda. So he could have another companion. Something to talk to.

. . .

Percy's return home was met with hugs, his mother's tear stained face and an unspoken promise not to leave. Never again. He was done with the gods. Percy could see more grey hairs in his mother's hair. The grey streaks were so premature for someone his mother's age and Percy knew that _he_ was the cause if the.

Percy was done with the gods, he wouldn't allow his mother to worry herself into an early grave.

He had entered his room, eyes unconsciously searching it for threats. Until his eyes came to rest on a small panda bear sitting on his pillows, waiting for his return.

And without even bothering to change, Percy threw himself under his bed covers and curled around his panda teddy. He allowed himself to cry.

He didn't sob, choke or sniff, he merely allowed tears to run freely from his eyes. Crying freely for the first time since he was a child.

Gods know he deserved to cry for he had seen so much, _too_ much in the short amount of years in which he had inhabited the earth.

And now, returning home, he knew he had a lot to tell his panda about.

After all, it was the least godly thing in his life.

~END~

 ** _I hope you enjoyed! :)_**


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